Shuttle



spt" R. N. ALLEN SHUTTLE Filed June 11, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I N VENTOR.

W ATTORNEY.

Se t. 27, 1927.

R. N. ALLEN "SHUTTLE Filed June 11. 1924 2 sums-sheet 2 a I INVENTOR.

. A TTORNY.

Patented Sept. 27, 1927.

warren srarss rum? {eerie-E.

ROBERT: 1v. ALLEN, or Marianna Messaciiusririrs} ASSIG1\I OR"TQ U.'S;romaine SHUTTLE 00., or PROVIDENCE, arrenarsrniw, acea-roanrron open-oneISLAND.

SHUTTLE.

Application filed June 11, 1924. Serial No. 719,318;

My invention is an improvement in shuttles, particularly of the selfthreading type for weft replenishing looms. It is particularly adaptedfor those having a metallic threading b'lock positioned on the side ofthe eye and extending over into the threading chamber in a directionwhich corresponds with the normal unwinding path of the yarn as itunwinds from the bobbin.

It is an improvement on the type of shuttle shown in patents to Snow ofJune 29, 1920, No. 1344,73 1, and of Feb. 22, 1921, No..1,369,806 toStetson Jan. 2 1923 No. 1,440,505 and patent to Allen, Oct. 28, 1913,No.'1,076,935.

I find that on this type of shuttle where the guide part of thethreading block eX-' tends down in the direction of the path of theunwinding yarn in many types of Work it is not necessary to have anyoverlap or scroll at the back but merely a guide hookor finger, the endof which comes fairly close to the bottom or side whereby the yarn as itspins around in unwinding is automatically guided and kept in thethreading chamber.

To prevent a loop forming on this back guide it is desirable that itvshould taper down so that if the yarn is thrown from the bobbin and doesloop, it willslip oil at the next pick.

I find however that while on the first pick when the new bobbin isintroduced in the shuttle the yarn is substantially straight and undertension and slips easily into place, at the beginnin of the second orreturn pick there is necessarily a slackness in the yarn amounting tofrom 6 to 12 inches and this is not instantly taken up. As a result ifthe yarn has a tendency to kink or if it happens to fall over, away fromthe eye and up under the front hook, the thread on this pick does notpass through the eye of the shuttle. The yarn has a tendency to kinkupward and to utilize this tendency I form this particular type of frontguide and also modify the front \edge of the threading block tocooperate with it.

This takes the place of any overlapping shield at the front which maybe'ne cessary if the front guide finger-isof a diilerent form; I

In my construction, I find moreover it is not necessary to have a fronthook raking backward as well as a back hook raking forward, and whileprefer to have a. back hook or guide which rakes forward, I have theback edge of the guide and the front edge of the guide both rakingforward so that the yarn cannot betrapped between them. I

My construction is much simplified and as it conforms to the natural.movement of the yarns and threads so easily it is very difficult for theyarn when it once has passedunder the frontguide, to escape therefrom.On the first pick there are several forces operating on the thread.There is the pull in the direction of the axis, the unwinding from thebobbin depending on the direction of the wind, and more or less tendencyto balloon, depending somewhat on the distance between the frictionintheshuttle eye and the position on the length ofth'e bobbin, where thethread is unwinding. IVhen unwinding from the tip the tendency toballoon is different from when it is" unwinding from thehead. There isanother force which is the result of the blow ofthe picker. This givesmore or less of a jerk or snap to the thread, sometimes throwing it to aconsiderable extent. i

I have/utilized all these forces and have eliminated various unnecessaryparts thereby producing an exceedingly simple shuttle eye. It ispossible to produce such a simple shuttle eye by die-casting, using arelative ly soft alloy-to make, in a few operations, a very smooth,satisfactory product.

However when using any metal and especially a soft metal it is necessaryto prevent the thread from riding in any one position over the top, orin any one position over the front of the horn as it will eventually cuta groove and this groove will cut the thread.

- on the second pick, the thread should slip down over the horn into theside eye and should stay there, where the horn and the arrangement ,ofparts should keep it' from unearthing.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is aplan View of the eye end of a shuttle: withmy preferred form of shuttle eye in. position,-and wi th a I bobbin andthe thread running therefrom, shown in full lines asiit is positionedduring the first pick, and in dotted linesduring part of the secondpick.

Fig. 2 is an. elevation of the shuttle block. as from the left-of Fig.1, looking. towards the point. or team; the,- bottom as shown on thedrawing, removed from the shuttle, two common positions of the threadbeing shown, one in full lines and the other in dotted lines.

Fig. 3 is a view from the right of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4: is a view from the left of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a view of the back of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a view from the front as shown by the arrow on section line 66of Fig 1.

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing my shuttle block as it comesout from the die-casting.

Fig. 8 is a front view similar to Fig. 3 of a modification.

Fig. 9 is a View similar to Fig. 5 of another modification.

Fig. lOis a plan view similar to Fig. 1 of still another modification.

S is a shut-tle of the self-threading type for automatic looms, havingthe usual bobbin chamber 10 for the bobbin B from which the thread isunwound in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1. 12 is the threadchamber which extends forward in continuation of bobbin chamber 10, and13 is the delivery passage which extends still further forward from thethreading chamber.

H represents the shuttle eye in the wood, and this connects with thethreading chamber 12 through the slot 15 cut away from the deliverypassage 13. 8 represents the metal tip of the shuttle.

This eye His what is known as a left eye as it is at the left whenlooking towards the tip 8 of the shuttle.

F represents a metallic threading block which is set into a recess inthewood of the shuttle and is shown as fixed therein by means of a screw 36which passes through a hole in the wood of the shuttle and a hole in theblock, in a well known manner. Preferably there is also at the bottom ofblock F, the projection 34 which fits into a recess in the wood of theshuttle.

32 is the horn and 33 the thread pin, both of well known'form. l

My improvement is more particularly useful in connection with a certaintype of threading block such as shown in patents to Snow and Allenreferred to herein and as shown at F in Figs. 1 to 7 in which there is athread directing guide plate G which extends from the top thereof andfrom the top side of the shuttle, down and out at 22 into the threadingchamber 12, or that part of the threading chamber which is enclosed inthe threading block itself indicated at 9 in Fig. 1.

In Figs. 1 to 8 there is at or near the back athread retaining guidehook or member 24: which is in extension of the sloping part 22 of guideplate G. As this together with the part 22 of guide plate G extends inthe same direction and proximate the normal unwinding path of the threadasit unwinds on the firstplck of the shuttle in a maga somewhere nearlycoincides with the center or axis of the passage 9 as should be the caseand as shuttles are ordinarily constructed.

It is clear that when once in the passage 9, the unwinding thread willtravel around in the direction of the arrow as'it unwinds from thebobbin, and there will be very lit tle likelihood of its unthreadingeven if there is no overlap locking device such as shown in certainother patents.

The special feature of this device is the thread trapping front finger19 which extends from and under the front partof guide plate G down andforward and narrows from its base 27 to its tip 28. i

As shown in Fig. 1 by the full lines, the thread A is in the positionwhich is shown on the first pick, where the shuttle is movlng away froma point beyond 8 and the thread is under tension .at the same time thatit is unwinding. It will naturally slip around the guide member 2 1 intothe cham ber 9 and down between front finger 19 and the wood throughpassage 14, shown clearly in Fig. 6 although these two approach eachother closely, because the unwinding of the thread throws it into thetrough indicated at 5, and it slides down over G and the part 15 cutaway from the wood.

lVhen once in at the left of finger 19 on the first pick, on the secondpick as the thread A is caught between the warp threads which haveshifted and the lay is moving back, before the shuttle is picked, it ismoved away so that the thread extends diagonally, as shown by the dottedlines at 2 in Fig. 1,

.the tendency before the second pick being to prevent it fromunthreading around or under finger 19. At the second pick however thereis a certain amount of slack in the thread, anda certain amount ofkinking illustrated at 3 and t in Fig. 2. This slackness continues fromthe position where the shuttle starts back until it is an equal distancein between the warp threads, and it is at this slack period when thethread, because of kinking, air currents and various other forces,occasionally unthreads and slips back so that it runs over the shuttleblock instead of slipping into the eye as it should. In Figs. 2, 3 and 4I illustrate this. v

Thee'xtending of finger 19 down and forward serves to prevent suchunthreading and as it tapers from 27 to 28, if the thread should looparound it, the loop will slip off. To further prevent the thread fromrun ning over the top at the point 27 or the point which'substantiallycorresponds with it in Fig. 10, I prefer to change the shape of thefront edge 16 from the customary curved shape shown at 90 in Fig. 10 toa straight edge 16 running directly from the base 27 of the front finger19 to the side eye H. This front edge 16 together with the front fingerl9 cooperating with the position of the shuttle on the second pick makeit almost impossible either for the thread to unthread or to run at aparticular point over block F.

In Fig. 2, I show an oven-head friction L extending through a hole andan underneath friction 85 extending through a hole 84 whereby the threadis held very closely in position.

As shown in Fig. 7 the fingers or guides 19 and 24 are first formedstraightened out, and then they are easily bent around to the desiredpositions.

In Fig. 8, I show the top front finger as bent around into a hook whilein. the Figs. 3, 4; and 6 it is bent down at 19 to a vertical position.Either form may be used.

In Fig. 9, I show a front trapping finger 82 which may be of either formbut the bottom front edge 83 of the guide plate is not cut away as it isat 37 in Fig. 5 but extends in a very slight curve or straight back tothe back guide 81.

In Fi 10, I show a block K with a front trapping finger 92 ofsubstantially the same shape as 19 from which the front edge 9O curvesforward from the base of finger 92 back to edge H, leaving a sort ofhollow at 95 in which there is danger that a thread may catch and run.

I show a single friction 91 underneath and near the middle of threadingblock K, and the guide plate 93 extends from the top side of the shuttleonly a very short distance into the threading chamber indicated at 9%.This serves to help keep the thread A in position,

eye, a bobbin chamber and a threading chamber in continuation thereofwhich connects with the eye, of a thread directing guide plate whichextends from the top side of the shuttle in the same direction andproximate the normal unwinding path of the thread as it unwinds on thefirst pick of the shuttle in a magazine loom into the threading chamber;such guide plate having a thread trapping front finger which extendsfrom and under its front part down and forward and which narrows to itstip, said guide plate also having its front edge extending from the baseof said finger in a eye, a bobbin chamber and a threading chamber incontinuation thereof which connects with the eye, of a thread directingguide plate which extends from the top side of the shuttle in the samedirection and,

proximate the normal unwinding path of the thread as it unwinds on thefirst pick of the shuttle in a magazine loom into the threading chamber;such guide plate having a thread trapping front finger which extendsfrom and under its front part down and forward and which narrows to itstip, said guide plate also having its front edge extending from the baseof said finger in a substantially straight direct-ion back towards theshuttle eye and having a thread retaining guide book which extends fromand under its back part.

3. The combination in a shuttle having an eye, a bobbin chamber and athreading chamber in continuation thereof which connects with. the eye,of a thread directing guide plate which extends from the top side of theshuttle in the same direction and eye, a bobbin chamber and a threadingchamber in continuation thereof which connect with the eye, of a threaddirecting guide plate which extends from the top side of the shuttleinto the threading chamber,

such guide plate having a thread trapping front finger which extendsfrom and under its front part down and forward and which narrows to itstip, said guide plate also having a thread retaining guide hook whichextends from and under its back part.

5. The combination in a shuttle having an eye, a bobbin chamber and athreading chamber in continuation thereof which connects wit-h the eye,of a thread directing guide plate which extends from the top side of theshuttle into the threading chamber; such guide plate having a threadtrapping front finger which extends from and under its front part downand forward and which narrows to its tip.

ROBERT N. ALLEN.

